PANAMA CITY BEACH — Deputies have arrested a man who allegedly possessed several computer images of child pornography, according to a Bay County Sheriff’s Office news release.
Billy Earl Thomas, 52, was charged with 15 counts of possession of images depicting the sexual performance of a child.
Investigators with BCSO and agents from the Department of Homeland Security served a search warrant Thursday morning at 2412B Dorothy Ave. on Panama City Beach after developing information that several images of child pornography had been uploaded to the Internet from a computer at that address.
Investigators were able to confirm the email address used to upload the images belonged to Thomas. During subsequent interviews with Thomas, he admitted to viewing images of the sexual performance of children as he believed the images contained “photographic value.”
Thomas was arrested and booked into the Bay County Jail.